<Carol> Now showered and dressed, though not in her uniform because her shoes were still in the main building somewhere, Carol crossed the lawn. She knew the right thing to do and she was going to do it before she chickened out.

<Carol> Making her way through the admin building, Carol stopped outside Cessily's office and knocked carefully on the door - the stress she was under making holes in the wood more likely. While she waited for Cess to answer, she turned her back and leaned against the wall.

<Cessily> Distracted by the knock on her door, Cessily lost count of the number of sugar cubes she had already added to her coffee. Had it been three already? "Come on in!" she responded, while frowning at the sugar pot. Eventually she simply shrugged, smiled, and dumped three more cubes into her cup.

<Cessily> "Hi there!" Cessily's face instantly brightened as she beamed a smile at Carol. "Good morning! And, for you, I always have time." She giggled, stirring her steaming coffee. "But yes, I don't have any appointments for at least an hour. Oh, want a coffee?"

<Carol> Cessily's happiness to see her was like a knife to the heart and she was almost certain it showed. She turned to close the door and cleared her throat, "Yeah, sure... coffee's always welcome."

<Cessily> "Coming right up!" Cessily put her cup down on the desk and turned back to the kitchen counter, grabbing another from the shelf. "You look like you didn't get any yet," she said with a glance over her shoulder while pouring Carol's coffee. "Don't tell me you pulled an all nighter in the office again."

<Carol> Carol shook her head, "No... I slept... I drank a lot..." She crossed the room and flopped onto Cessily's squishy sofa.

<Cessily> "That's good! It's really important to stay hydrated and get enough of sleep." It took Cessily a moment to realise Carol wasn't talking about drinking water. "Oh..." She blinked, wearing a dumbfounded expression, and held out the freshly filled cup.

<Carol> Carol took the cup with a slightly pained smile and had a small sip before she rested the cup in her lap, "Yeah..."

<Cessily> Cessily gave Carol a comforting smile in return and sat down by her side on the couch. "You know, sometimes I wonder how I ever managed to become student counsellor with my amazing perceptiveness," she said. "This is one of those moments."

<Carol> She gave a small awkward laugh, putting her coffee down to give Cessily a hug.

<Cessily> Cessily instinctively returned the hug, even though the surprise was clearly visible on her face. "Ok, now I'm a bit worried," she said, holding on to the other woman. "Carol, what's wrong?"

<Carol> It was tempting to say 'nothing' but she knew she had to tell her. "I did something...."

<Cessily> Cessily wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or not. At least it seemed that no one had died or anything like that. She hoped so, anyway. Sitting back, she bit her lip and watched Carol. "And would you like to talk about it?"

<Carol> "I have to tell you... but you're not going to like it...." She looked away from Cessily's face, trying to find somewhere to rest her eyes that wasn't her girlfriend.

<Cessily> "Well, you don't know that until you tell me." Cessily noted Carol's distress, and reached out to touch her hand, a gesture meant to help her own growing tension, as well. "Whatever it is, I promise I won't get angry."

<Carol> Carol shook her head, "You can't promise that... you should get angry...." She sighed, looking down at their hands. "I... had sex with Chris last night...."

<Cessily> Cessily couldn't tell what exactly it was that she felt, but it wasn't anger. Instead it was something that seemed to reach deep inside of her and tighten a cold hand around her heart. She swallowed. "You... you did?" Her voice broke a little, and she fidgeted with her fingers.

<Carol> Carol let go of Cessily's hand and stood up, not feeling like she deserved to sit beside her never mind hold hands with her. "I... I don't know why I did it... I mean, I was drunk and he was there.... and I'm so sorry...."

<Cessily> Cessily sat still, her lips pressed together into a silver line, while trying to hold on to any of the thoughts racing through her mind. "Was he... was he drunk, too?" she asked, looking up at Carol.

<Carol> Carol shook her head, "I don't think so... he was just drinking coffee..." She put her face in her hands, "Cess... I'm so sorry.... I don't expect you to forgive me... I just had to tell you.... I can go...?"

<Cessily> Before saying another else, Cessily rose to her feet, took a quick step, and put her arms around Carol, pulling her into a tight embrace. "Of course I forgive you," she promptly blurted, her voice muffled by her girlfriend's shoulder.

<Cessily> She swallowed again, still feeling a tight grip on her throat and chest. "I'm not happy about it, but how could I not forgive you?"

<Carol> "I cheated on you..." her arms slid around Cessily anyway and she buried her face in the other woman's red hair.

<Cessily> Cessily took a deep breath and held it in her non-functioning lungs, closing her eyes, trying to calm down the flurry of thoughts and emotions tumbling through her head. "You got drunk and made a mistake," she corrected Carol. "And you came to me right away and were honest with me."

<Carol> "I'll always be honest with you..." Carol told her as if that was obvious, "I hate lying..."

<Cessily> Reluctant to let go, Cessily leaned back and took Carol's hands instead, offering a faint smile. "I really appreciate that," she replied. "And I'd be lying if I told you I'm not feeling upset and a little hurt, but I'd be the last person to condemn you for a mistake I would have made myself in the past."

<Carol> Carol gave Cessily's hands a gentle squeeze, "You're totally entitled to be upset... angry too..." She looked down at their hands, "I remember he was saying all these nice things... maybe I should avoid people when I'm drunk... unless they're shiny and silver."

<Cessily> Cessily put on a lopsided smile. "To be honest, I'm more angry at Chris at the moment. You were drunk and clearly not in the right state of mind. And if he wasn't, it would have been his responsibility to say no!"

<Carol> "Well he sure didn't... and then this morning he was acting like it was totally normal." Which had freaked her out a little. "I guess I should punch him or something..."

<Cessily> Cessily furrowed her silver brow. "Right now I feel tempted to suggest we both should punch him."

<Carol> "He might think we're suggesting a threesome if we both go..."

<Cessily> Her frown deepened. "Knowing him, that's probably true," she conceded. For a moment, Cessily was quiet, simply looking at Carol. "You said you would always be honest with me..." She paused, chewing on her lower lip.

<Cessily> She took another breath and locked eyes with her girlfriend. "So you would tell me if you... if anything in our relationship makes you unhappy, yes?"

<Carol> Carol gave Cess a slightly sad smile, "Cessily. There is nothing in our relationship that makes me unhappy." She raised her lips to press a kiss to Cessily's forehead.

<Cessily> A smile brightened Cessily's face, and she felt the tight knot inside her chest loosening a little bit. "That's good," she replied, tilting her head to rest her forehead against Carol's. "Because there's nothing I want more than for both of us to be as happy as we can be."

<Carol> Carol's smile became more normal and she pulled Cessily into a hug, "You're amazing. Why wouldn't I be happy?"

<Cessily> "I don't know," Cessily answered, feeling the tightness clenching her throat disappear the moment she wrapped her arms around Carol. "It's just, sometimes I can't help but worry that I might not be able to offer you enough."

<Carol> "Enough? What more could I want?" She nuzzled the side of Cessily's face.

<Cessily> Cessily grinned, tilting her head towards Carol. "Well, if you ask like this, my guess would be a penis." She looked at her girlfriend to quickly add: "Which I would be totally okay with, you know? All I want you to do is to tell me beforehand."

<Carol> Carol laughed, giving Cessily a squeeze, "Maybe that's something we can have fun with in the future, huh?"

<Cessily> "Sounds good to me." Cessily chuckled, holding her girlfriend close. "So does that mean I get to sleep with someone else now, too?"

<Carol> Carol wrinkled her nose, "I guess that would be fair.... but no. I'm not sharing you."

<Cessily> Tilting her head, Cessily glanced thoughtfully at the ceiling, before she shrugged her shoulders. "I wouldn't want to share me either, so I guess that's fair enough." A soft giggle escaped her lips before she pressed them to Carol's.

Quicksilver: Howisshe?Isshealright?Imusetspeakwithmysisteratonce.Hawkeye: What is that noise?IronMan: That is the noise Pietro makes right before he's tossed out of the airlock. ~ Avengers: The Children's Crusade #6